A Prairie Boy and Nature Girl's Embrace
by RFtheGreat
Summary: It's just another instance of Dawn coming back home from work at the animal sanctuary, as part of the daily routine. However, today's different, as she finds that her husband Ezekiel is hiding away. Little does she know that he needs some comfort. DawnXEzekiel one-shot.


**A/N: Greetings readers! This is just a little one-shot I'm writing for a challenge. Well that...and I'm seriously considering rebooting my Total Drama Redemption and/or Total Drama: World Tour Redo It Again! stories, in order to make up for abandoning it all those years ago. And now that I've been feeling genuinely motivated to write, I'm gonna dip my feet in the water and whatnot, heh. **

**Feel free to leave a review (especially if you have some writing pointers for me to help me improve my writing) after you're done reading ! And in the meantime, check out the poll on my profile and select which fanfiction you would prefer me to rewrite first. It shall be up until Saturday night, where it will close at 10 PM EST. But remember, choose wisely, for I shall only focus on one story at a time. Mwuahaha~**

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Opening the front door to her home, Dawn stepped inside and closed the door behind her, making sure to lock it behind her after the door was shut. She then kicked off her shoes, which were beginning to feel a bit confining after the long day at the local animal reservation she had, before giving a glance around her.

The house that she and her husband, Ezekiel, lived in was not too stylish; white and blue floral walls, brown carpet floors, one-story in height, small backyard, and etc. Yet, it did not matter much to them, as style was never a priority on their list. It was available on the block for a low price and, considering the low-income that the newly-wed young couple had, it was certainly better than nothing. Heck, it suited them just fine. Ezekiel preferred a more simplistic style of living, while Dawn herself didn't mind if the place happened to be a little rundown; it just meant that it felt a bit more natural to her.

Speaking of Ezekiel, Dawn's brow rose a little as she noticed the prairie boy's absence from his usual spot in the kitchen. Normally, she would find him either washing the dishes, vacuuming the floor, or doing some other chore that was needed to be done. Today though, that didn't seem to be the case.

Dawn tilted her head slightly as she started to walk around, looking for Ezekiel. "Ezekiel? Are you here?" Dawn softly called out, passing through the kitchen and dining room in a swift manner meanwhile. "Dear?"

There was no response nor no sign of him to be seen or heard. At this, Dawn bit her lip gently as she slowed to a halt in front of the hallway leading to the bathroom and their room. She stood there for a moment, staring down the hallway a bit worriedly, before beginning to lightly tread down the hall and towards the bedroom. Dawn couldn't hear anything except the little patter-patter from her feet, which only magnified her concern by a fair amount.

Soon though, Dawn quietly stopped in front of the bedroom door and pressed her ear against it, attempting to listen for any signs of life. Now, if Dawn was anyone else, she wouldn't have been able to hear someone. However, Dawn had the skill of being able to note the presence of people close to her and, in this case, she could barely hear the sound of someone breathing. Raggedly. And it was at this point that she was ninety-nine percent sure that that someone was Ezekiel.

"Zekey, you there...?" Dawn quietly spoke through the door, concern in her flowery voice, whilst she gently planted a palm on the doorknob.

She could near-immediately hear the sound of someone gasping slightly in surprise, followed by a brief pause before a voice could be heard. "...Please, d-doon't come in, eh." Ezekiel's voice weakly called out, sounding like it came from the other side of the room. The saddened tone in his voice made Dawn bite her lip even harder. She was now able to get a sense of Ezekiel's aura, from the other side, and found that it was laced with grief.

"Why dear? Is everything okay?" Dawn asked with increased concern, gripping the doorknob a bit more tightly.

"N-noo, I..." Ezekiel started to stammer out, a pause following his words. "...I...need to be aloone. It's t-too much, eh."

"Please, Zekey, you can let me in. You can let your inner grievances out." Dawn insisted, concerned, as she furrowed her brows slightly. "I'm here for you and you can talk to me, I promise."

More silence came from the other side of the door, further worrying Dawn. Momentarily however, the sound of someone sitting up on a bed could soon be heard, along with the shuffling of blankets. "...The dooor's unlocked, eh." Ezekiel quietly spoke up. His voice now took on a calm tone, though it was still laced with weariness.

Dawn hummed in understanding before turning the doorknob and slowly opening the door. And as the door opened, Dawn poked her head in and, at what she saw, felt her eyes widen a bit. Ezekiel was sitting on the edge of the bed with his hands clasped together, reddened eyes from a somber face gazed down at the floor. His clothing was ruffled up and his blue toque was slightly crooked on his head, as it tilted to the side. And his eyes appeared to be puffy and wet, which Dawn immediately assumed was due to crying.

At seeing this, Dawn gave a small gasp as she quickly walked through the door and over towards Ezekiel. She stopped in front of him, but Ezekiel didn't look up at her. Instead, he lifted his head up slightly and took a deep breath, managing to collect himself a little more.

The awkward silence between the two persisted, for a few moments, before Dawn suddenly reached forwards and placed a gentle hand on Ezekiel's shoulder. Ezekiel, feeling her hand, finally lifted his gaze up towards Dawn and gave a quiet sniffle.

"...You can tell me, Zekey." Dawn quietly repeated, looking back into Ezekiel's eyes and continuing to hold his shoulder.

Ezekiel gently bit his lip and squeezed the sheets on his bed. "N-nooightmare..." Ezekiel answered, forcing himself to continue looking up at Dawn. "Aboot...aboot…"

"About what?" Dawn calmly asked, starting to gently rub his shoulder to comfort him.

"Aboot...my time...in the plane, eh." Giving this answer, Ezekiel's gaze then shifted towards the ground as Dawn tilted her head slightly, perplexed. She was at first a bit confused at what he meant, but her eyes then suddenly widened as she was able to recall.

* * *

**About four years earlier…**

_Dawn sat in the front of her living room television, cross legged as she watched through the past episodes of Total Drama. It was earlier that year that she was informed that she qualified for the next season of Total Drama and, to catch up on what happened, was watching through all of the episodes of World Tour as a refresher and a gauge for what was to possibly come._

_So far, she was having mixed feelings from all of the episodes she had managed to watch so far. Dawn was caught up to the end of the episode centered in China, which had slightly disappointed her, and the African Serengeti episode had started as she thought to herself. There was so much that they could've done in China, a country known for its extensive culture, for a challenge. But instead, the host had decided that an eating contest would be more fitting instead. Plus, Dawn found herself both offended and horrified at the implications of what happened to Ace, considering her affinity with animals._

_This wasn't the only episode that made Dawn feel this negative, as the drama-filled episodes before it made her heart hurt. Alejandro's manipulation of a majority of the contestants he met, the tragic love triangle between Duncan, Gwen, & Courtney, all of the animals getting hurt by poor DJ's curse._

_...And seeing the transformation that a certain prairie boy had gone under. Dawn had paid particular attention to Ezekiel ever since his elimination from the season and, following it, his stowing away in the plane's cargo hold. She couldn't help but feel sorry for Ezekiel's loss, knowing that he had been eliminated first twice now, but it concerned her whenever she managed to catch him in the shadows in each episode._

_And Dawn was justified in that, as she found herself gasping in horror as she saw the condition Ezekiel was in during the London episode. Green skinned, ragged, barely able to speak or act human. She could very well see that Ezekiel's condition was deteriorating, as seen in the following episodes, and found herself more than concerned for him. Was she offended by the remarks he made in the first season? A little, but she never saw it as personal and, in fact, admired the homeschooled boy's determination. But she thought that this was too far and too much for her to bear._

_While Dawn's mind ran on this train of thought, she had been paying some attention to the episode currently playing and how it progressed. The follow-up challenge wasn't much in terms of notability (though she felt bad for Cody's particular predicament), but as Chris McLean went on about the main challenge and did the reveal of what the contestants were going to be hunting, Dawn's eyes grew wide with shock at what was in the cage. Or more-so who, since she saw what had been left of Ezekiel in that cage. His condition had deteriorated so much so that he seemed completely feral. And Dawn's heart hurt so much to see him in this tortured state, stuck in a cage, feral, and being used for the sake of a challenge. She couldn't imagine what it was like to be Ezekiel right now, even with her aura reading abilities. He must've been suffering a great deal...and Dawn was incapable of doing anything about it._

_Dawn's mind then suddenly clicked as she stared at the screen and watched Ezekiel gnaw on the bars behind Chris. No, she couldn't do anything about what happened to Ezekiel right now, as far as she could tell. But what Dawn could do was make sure nobody else suffered a similar fate to the prairie boy. By being on the show, she could make sure that her fellow future competitors didn't suffer like this at the hands of Chris. She could care less about the money, even if she wanted to win it to help create an animal sanctuary for suffering animals._

_But even then, with this new resolve in mind, part of Dawn still wished she could do something to help the feral Ezekiel. Part of her hoped that maybe, just maybe, she'll be able to find him one day…_

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"Are yoou okay, Dawn?..." Ezekiel quietly spoke up, slightly looking up at the still moon-child. He had noticed that Dawn went silent and still, which made him a bit worried despite his mood.

Ezekiel's words managed to snap Dawn back to the present, as she blinked and silently looked back at Ezekiel. Without warning, Dawn then leaned forwards and tightly wrapped her arms around Ezekiel's torso, surprising him. His eyes widened and he stayed still, momentarily blushing, before gently wrapping his own arms around Dawn.

"...I am, dear, and you are too." Dawn replied, her voice soft like velvet, as she continued to hug him. Small tears pricked at the corner of her eyes, unbeknownst to a slowly relaxing Ezekiel. "You're not on that awful plane anymore. You're a home, safe and in Mother Earth's loving embrace."

Dawn's hugging softened a bit whilst she tilted her head slightly and pecked Ezekiel's forehead, making his blush promptly reappear. "And especially, you're here with me."

Listening to Dawn as he continued to blush, Ezekiel felt a couple of happy tears prickle at his eyes and, leaning in, gave her a soft kiss on the lips. Dawn was not hesitant in returning the gentle kiss Ezekiel gave, since she was just happy to sense Ezekiel's aura growing more bright than before.

The kiss lasted for a few, peaceful seconds before Ezekiel pulled away from the kiss and softly smiled up at her. He reached up and gently wiped away the tears he saw on Dawn's face. "Thank yoou, eh..." Ezekiel quietly told her, continuing to smile as he then lowered his hand and wiped away his own tears. "I'm glad too be here with yoou."

Dawn, hearing this, returned a heartwarming smile and tightened the hug a bit again. At the same time, she leaned against him slightly and rested her head on his shoulder, gently breathing into it. Ezekiel felt this and gave her back a gentle rub, choosing to stay silent as he closed his eyes contently. He was more than happy to stay in his wife's embrace.

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**A/N: I hate to sound like a broken record, but if there's anything I can do to make my writing better, based off of this, feel free to tell me about it! Is there too much detail? Too little? Is there not enough depth? Is more dialogue desire? Does Ezekiel's accent sound alright? And etcetera.**

**But anyways, turned to updates from yours truly and I shall see you all again soon! :)**


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